Players Reflect on Historic Campaign

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 2013-14 Penn State women's hockey season was
monumental in numerous capacities. The young, aspiring program took leaps in
its second year of existence with numerous individual and team
accolades--displaying its inevitable destiny to grow in coming years.

"Our program has made tremendous steps since day one, both on and off the ice,"
said senior assistant captain Jenna Welch. "The opportunity of a lifetime lies
at our fingertips. I can see this program accomplishing something big in the
future."

The Nittany Lions completed their inaugural season in Pegula Ice Arena with a
4-29-3 overall record and a 1-18-1 record in College Hockey America play.
Despite the uneven tilt in results, the Blue and White showed grittiness and
resilience throughout the season, providing promise for the future.

"There have been a lot of underclassmen stepping up as leaders and they're a
very hard working group of girls," said senior captain Taylor Gross. "I am very
confident in the girls on the team now and I am so excited to see them grow as
players and people even more than they already have."

The season officially came to a close for head coach Josh Brandwene's squad the
first weekend in March after the Lions were swept by RIT in the first round of
CHA playoffs. Just like many of the games throughout the regular season--the
Lions hung with their opponent until the final whistle in the playoffs.

At season's beginning in October, Penn State leaped out to a promising start.
With a tie and a win in the first weekend at Vermont, the team returned to
Pegula Ice Arena for an eight-game home stand to christen the state-of-the-art
facility and in the second ever women's hockey game in the new arena, Penn
State earned its first home win behind a third period power play goal from
freshman Laura Bowman.

OffenseMidway through the second full season of Division I play, the offense
hit a bit of a lull, but regained its stride in the tail part of the schedule.

"I think that our offense performed very well this year besides the drought in
the middle of the year," Gross said. "We improved throughout the entire year."

In all, 12 Nittany Lions registered a goal while 19 student-athletes tallied at
least one point. By far the most promising aspect of the offensive unit was the
production from younger players.

Bowman, a freshman, led the team in goals with 10 and ranked second with 16
points, earning her a spot on the CHA All-Rookie Team. Fellow freshman Amy
Petersen ties for fourth on the team with five goals and 15 points, with sophomore
Hannah Hoenshell leading the way in points for the Blue and White with 17.

Despite the success from the underclassmen, the senior leaders wished they had
seen even more from the whole team.

"For the most part I feel like we did a decent job [converting our scoring
chances], but we definitely could have capitalized on a few more opportunities
to bury the puck," Welch said. "Just watching the way we moved the puck in the playoffs
compared to the beginning of the season says a lot about the work ethic of our
team and coaching staff in trying to improve every day."

Defense
Defensively, Penn State displayed composure from top to bottom all year.
Graduate student Lindsay Reihl mentored freshman Kelly Seward throughout the
season as they challenged one another to become better overall players every
single day.

"Overall, our defense has a lot of depth," Gross said of her teammates.

The team totaled 594 blocked shots this season to help out goalkeepers Nicola
Paniccia and Celine Whitlinger. The nearly-600 blocks dwarfed the opponents'
total of 398. Seward led the way for the Blue and White with 57 blocks to her
name in a very impressive freshman season and her counterpart Reihl ranked
second 55.

In Paniccia's senior campaign, she saved 773 shots while posting a .913 save
percentage in 22 starts. Oddly enough, Whitlinger's save percentage matches
that of her senior mentor as the sophomore turned away 559 opponent shots and
earned three of the team's four wins.

Sky's the Limit
The maturity and determination within this young team and even younger program
provides light for the future in Hockey Valley. Penn State was awarded the Team
Sportsmanship Award by the CHA at season's end while Gross earned the
Individual Sportsmanship Award in the conference.

Players and coaches will look back at monumental events like move-in day to
Pegula Ice Arena, the first game in the 'New Den' and a record-breaking crowd in
the Lions' Skate for the Cure game. All of these point towards a bright future
for the second year program.

"I will always be so appreciative of the opportunity to have played at this
amazing university," Welch said. "The experience I
had here has helped build me into the person I am today, and is one I
will remember for the rest of my life. I encourage the girls to always remember
how blessed they are to have this opportunity and enjoy every second of
being at Penn State."